Justice committee  I'd be happy to address that. There is no question that these patients may suffer greatly, but the thing that never fails to amaze me is the resilience of the human spirit. I have seen many patients with spinal cord injury and one of the things that is well documented in the li

Justice committee  Sure. I'd be happy to comment. Thank you, sir, for the question. I'm not a lawyer, so I can't comment on the integrity and validity of the legal reasoning involved, but I will say in general, with respect to both the superior court decision in Ontario about the effective referra

Justice committee  I would say that I am very concerned about the removal of the 10-day waiting period. It strikes me that this is such a serious decision to be made, with such care and consultation, with the assurance that all of the underlying issues that drive people to seek death—those issues a

Justice committee  Ontario and I believe Nova Scotia are the only jurisdictions in the world that require an effective referral. In every other jurisdiction in Canada and around the world, patients are able to obtain access without the requirement for an effective referral. There are already mechan

Justice committee  Madam Chair and honourable members of the committee, I speak to you as an academic physician-scientist, a critical care specialist who frequently provides end-of-life care, as the father of a child with physical disabilities, and as a very concerned Canadian citizen. I wish to ad